Abstract
The Brazilian semiarid region strongly depends on superficial reservoirs (one every 5 km 2 ) and hence is subject to the deleterious effects of siltation, which reduces water availability. This research proposed a method, simplified bathymetric surveying using remote sensing, for updating the morphological parameters of reservoirs. The study area was the Pentecoste reservoir (360 hm 3 ) in northeastern Brazil. The results were compared to the conventional bathymetric survey method, which demands more sampling points (235 compared to 1) and was assumed as reference. Siltation assessed through the proposed method was nearly twice as high as that observed through conventional surveys. The morphological parameters derived by both methods were used to assess the long-term water balance of the reservoir. The results show that the outflow diverged 30%, while the evaporated discharge and water availability diverged 10% between the methods. Therefore, in the conditions of the Brazilian semiarid region, the simplified method suffices to assess the water availability of reservoirs affected by silting.
Highlights
Modifications of the natural conditions of water courses through the construction of dams and the formation of artificial lakes directly affect natural hydro-sedimentological processes, as they reduce flow velocity and result in the gradual deposition of sediments [1]
The results show that the outflow diverged 30%, while the evaporated discharge and water availability diverged 10% between the methods
Considering the dense network of reservoirs and its social-economical relevance for the Brazilian semiarid region, continuous monitoring of reservoir morphology is essential for effective water management
Summary
Modifications of the natural conditions of water courses through the construction of dams and the formation of artificial lakes directly affect natural hydro-sedimentological processes, as they reduce flow velocity and result in the gradual deposition of sediments [1]. The gradual and continuous deposition over time causes reservoir siltation and reduces storage capacity as well as water availability [2,3], which may reduce the reservoir lifetime and cause problems with water quality [3,4,5]. In these environments, the risk of water shortage is imminent due to demand growth as well as water supply restrictions based on the rainfall statistics of previous years and the accumulated volume in the reservoirs [6]. It is estimated that the reduction, for the State of Ceará alone, is approximately 388 L · s−1 yearly
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